Student Living - not always a party

It was my second year of University and we had just returned for the first term. The four of us living together were out on our own for the first time and away from the student halls and security guards and that over reaching hand that always wanted to put a stop to our fun. Kara was sensible, had been the only one in the house during the summer and got the bills sorted; we could trust her with everything. We felt safe, went wild and everything became a blur.

When we all came back for the second term we agreed to go out for catch up drinks. While Corin ordered our cocktails, Kara put the bill down in front of us. I couldn’t believe it. The Union bar was cheap but all four of us could have dined out here for a month like royalty for the money we now had to shell out. No matter, I remember thinking, we can solve this. We each calmly agreed to pay our fair share, had our drinks and sensibly returned home early. But we had problems...

Franky wouldn't pay for her new boyfriend being at our house 24/7. 

Corin couldn't turn off a light to save her life.

Sure, I had the TV on while I was studying but it was no worse than Kara playing Warcraft on her laptop till the sun came up.

We simply couldn’t stop arguing about the bills and electricity usage. None of us could afford to pay what we were using but no one was willing to change their habits to drive down the cost. We barely spoke soon after and stayed in our rooms. Bridges were mended as we passed in the hallway but then shattered for taking one long shower too many. We’d make up, go out and forget about everything in the evening and weekends, but being in the house together midweek was a different story altogether.

Sound familiar? Whoever took on the responsibility, we were all equal in our share of the responsibility for the bills, but some didn't see it that way. Franky left and moved in with her boyfriend. She never paid her share and left no number for us to contact her on. We were in debt again and worse, paying for someone els’es free ride.

We were able to resolve the issue with support in the end, but I wish we’d been able to manage better in the first place to help our friendship without outside intervention.

If this story sounds familiar, Citizens Advice's new project ‘Switched On’. You can join one of their workshops running in the evenings each month or, if you're having issues that are causing trouble like mine did, you can speak to one of their Young People’s Energy Ambassadors for some 121 advice. Don’t wait for that first bill to come through - visit bit.ly/switchedonMCR for help today.